By Mohja Kahf
When a poet translates poetry not for the goal of philological accuracy but
of creating new poetry in the target language, two levels of results are possible.
The first level is attained when the translator-poet carefully finds a way to
create, in English, a poetic experience equivalent to the one produced by the
original poem in Arabic. This translator accepts the English rhetorical norms
for poetry and makes your poem conform to them. This produces a perfectly competent,
well-translated, if somewhat safe and predictable poem. It is a working poem
in the target language, real poetry. All translators must strive for this, at
minimum. It is not an easy goal. Most translations never go beyond this level.
The second possibility is this: The two languages, my English and the original
poet’s langauge, fight over poetics. In the sparks between them, new meanings
and words transform the poetics of the target language. The poet-translator
uses the original language like a chisel to break the poetics of English in
two like a crescent and hangs up a new moon in the English sky. The aim is not
just to recreate the poem’s effect in the original but to create a new
poem out of the translation process that changes something about the meeting
of the two worlds. This kind of translation is rare, and risky. The potential
rewards are very high. The prospect of falling on your face is much higher too.
<Mohja Kahf's Bio> <Nizar Kabbani's Bio>
Programs
in Creative Writing and Translation ■ Department of English ■